kitchen ceiling, new shower, front porch light and moving in

It has been a busy few weeks. We moved all of our furniture and "stuff" out of our home in Salt  Springs anticipating a November 17th closing. Although it is not finished, we  have moved into our cottage. The necessities are there but it remains a long way from being finished.

                                 The moving crew, Julie, brother Mike and son in law JW.

One necessity was to have a finished bathroom. To keep in the theme of a 100 year old beach cottage, we chose small white hexagon tiles for the floor and small subway tiles for the shower walls. A single row of light green sea glass tiles in the shower helps to keep the white from getting monotonous. The glass is bordered by a rope tile.

Here is Julie grouting the shower floor

Next was tiling and grouting the bathroom floor

We then put our efforts into putting some finishing touches in the kitchen. The beams are 2x10's. After the foam insulation was sprayed in, there was a bit over 4 inches of exposed wood remaining which we covered with a bead board material.

Also added some light fixtures above the bed for reading

I received an early Christmas gift from my mother and brother. This new found  (but not new) bronze front door light fixture as salvaged from a ship.

Rough In Inspection

What started in the dream stage (planning stage) a year ago, is finally  coming together. This week we had what is know as a "rough in" inspection . The plumbing, wiring, roofing, framing, and air conditioning were all checked out on this single inspection. We passed :0)

Now we can have the house insulated which began today.

IN addition, the plumber hooked up the sewer line and water supply so we now have a pressurized system.

We spent the day beginning work on beadboard walls in the hallway and bathrooms.

Also finished off wiring the panel box and installing circuit breakers.

The finale, was installing a temporary toilet (with running water :0)

This will be pulled out when the floor tile arrives

We also had the shower pans (waterproof membranes) added and will do a concrete sloping pad next week to prepare the shower for tile.

While the insulation people were here, the drywall truck pulled up. When it rains it pours.

THey offloaded 120 4x12 sheets of drywall which can now be installed over the insulated walls.

Cabinet for above built in refrigerator

This past week has had a different feeling. We are waiting for the plumber to finish his "rough in" work so  we can get past our first inspection  which will be for electrical, framing, roof, plumbing, and air conditioning. This has to be done to go on to insulation and drywall.
WE have run out of jobs to do which will get us closer to moving in and are now looking for things to do.

We had an extra salvaged louvered door that had a slight bow to it, and decided to cut it in half to create a louvered cabinet door for above the built in refrigerator. This will help tie the kitchen area in with the rest of the house which has louvered doors throughout.

Starting off with an older louvered door.

Here is how it looked after cutting through the center and taking a bit off of the bottom

We then went to the appliance store and found that standard height of a modern refrigerator is 6 feet. Framed in the refrigerator opening and created a shelf and braces for the louvered door.

Used standard door hinges to mount the newly created louvered cabinet door.

This will be a nice large storage area for those items that are seldom used.

Dresser for guest bath vanity

We picked up a vintage dresser with a really neat mirror. The dresser's wood was old, tired , fades  and neglected. A perfect candidate for paint and a bathroom sink conversion.
Here are a few pictures of the conversion process.

Here is Julie putting a coat of primer on the dresser after a light sanding

The drawers are being modified to accommodate the plumbing.

more projects

Today I hung 1/2" threaded rods from the rafters that will eventually hold up an antique ladder that we will use for a pot rack over the kitchen island.. These rods will eventually have 1/2 " metal tubing slid over them for a better look. This had to be done prior to the spray foam insulation.

Here is the antique ladder we found. It is a vintage citrus picker ladder, used to pick fruit while leaning against a tree. We shortened it and now perfect for a Florida cottage. This will be hanging from the four metal rods 7'6" off of the floor for a pot rack.

Also prepared the area that will become the threshold separating the entry from the living room. Filled the voids with pressure treated wood and foam.

Then cut to size and reshaped an old salvaged piece of cypress to use for the threshold. Once stained it should look like it was always there.

Getting a new metal roof

One of our early decisions was to recreate an original look which would include a "tin roof". We chose a classic 5V pattern with the fasteners exposed. I had to take this photo at dusk because daylight photos had too much Sun refection to show the roof detail. Not finished, but looking good already. I feel the lady just got crowned :0)

Here are a few pictures to show that this is not all work and no play.

Here are some nice surfing waves  (boogie board for me).

I liked the early morning long shadows of this snowy egret  .

End of day sky colors are great.

More progress

We have worked several days preparing the new kitchen ceiling for insulation that will be sprayed directly to the ceiling with expandable foam.  We want to preserve and be able to seethe beams. This required us  to nail 1x2 firing strips half way up  the 2x10 rafters. The high part of the ceiling is about 15' high so it got a little challenging up high. Once completed, had to cover the underside with plastic wrap to the surface that will be seen and painted.  WE plan on adding bead board to the 1x2 firing strips in between the rafters to hide the foam insullation. This photo looks like a Halloween fun house but is the protective plastic going up.

We then took off all of the trim from the original windows and replaced the ropes that go from the window to a pair of steel weights. THese weights act as a counterbalance to help the window go up and down easily. Here is a picture of one of the weights with it's new rope. So many of these old windows have gotten a bad rap for not working because one or more of the previous owners have painted them shut. They actually work wonderful when properly set up.

Also finished building some more of the kitchen cabinets. Can't wait to hang them.